


The Meeting

by FictionalWorldsAreExquisite



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid Peter Parker, Post-Iron Man 1, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, but that's not majorly relevant, peter is young here! 6 and 1/2 to be exact. his words. not mine, they don't know each other before this or anything. just a chance meeting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21952963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionalWorldsAreExquisite/pseuds/FictionalWorldsAreExquisite
Summary: Tony is on his way to a business meeting over food when he's stopped by a young kid. The kid introduces himself as Peter Parker and asks Tony for help to get home.Tony didn't really want to go to the meeting anyway.
Relationships: Ben Parker/May Parker (Spider-Man), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 16
Kudos: 408
Collections: Peter Parker Stories, ellie marvel fics - read





	The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> yeah i wrote this on christmas day leave me alone i have priorities. i'm KIDDING i wrote it tonight AFTER i'd spent the day with my family. but it's still christmas day so here u go. prezzie 4 u. this isn't a christmas story tho.
> 
> okay so the thing is with peter & tony fics i've mostly stuck to the current point in time ignoring endgame and far from home and infinity war i guess. OKAY not so current point in time. but at least homecoming point. this one? it's a little after the first iron man movie, or at least that's where i tried to place it. i'm terrible at remembering timelines but it's not that relevant to the story. it just gives you some setting. peter is young! i've never written that before! i hope it's okay! i tried judging what peter's age would a c t u a l l y be in canon at this point but i'm sure i got it wrong. sorry for any editing mistakes, i am v e r y tired.

Tony was walking through the streets of Queens on his way to a late business lunch/afternoon meal. He was in a good mood but it was rapidly fading. He’d actually got seven hours of sleep last night, was entirely sober and had been talking to Rhodey civilly before he had to leave back to base this morning.

He’d gotten Happy to drop him off a few blocks away from where he was meeting his potential business partners with the assurance that, yes, he’d wait until his bodyguard parked the car before wandering off. He didn’t wait.

He understood the worry and the upped security after everything that had gone down concerning Afghanistan and almost dying after having his arc reactor stolen but god, he just needed some space to breathe alone sometimes, hence the walk. 

It probably wasn’t his smartest move considering he was still injured and not in the best position to protect himself but he was only walking a few blocks and he’d be secure in the place he was eating. Happy would catch up eventually.

It was when he was passing the entrance to a subway station that he suddenly felt his sleeve being grabbed. His immediate reaction was to snatch his sleeve away and spin around defensively. Sure, he ditched his bodyguard, but he wasn’t a complete idiot. 

Except he consciously stopped himself from reacting that way because the grip was weak and the hand felt small, not really screaming threat. He felt confident in his ability to gain the upper hand if things did turn bad though, plus they were in a subway entrance, it seemed like a strategically bad place to try kidnap him again.

He turned around slowly a mere few seconds after the grip caught his sleeve and found himself looking down at a young boy. Tony wasn’t good at guessing the age of young children and his guesses were always off but he was maybe four? Five years old at most? He had brown curly hair, pale skin and a hopeful look in his brown eyes.

Tony looked around briefly to see if he could spot any parents but it was hard to tell. 

“Hey, kid. What’s up?”

The kid let go of his sleeve and shuffled his feet nervously. “You’re Tony Stark.”

Ah. A fan then? Damn, he was little young though. Tony hoped he’d been kept away from some of the worse things he’d done and been involved with. “That’s right, what’s your name?” 

He wasn’t really sure how to act around kids in all honesty. Theoretically, sure, he could guess, but not a lot of kids were interested in Stark Industries or the weapons they had made and he didn’t have a lot of experience with them. He also hadn’t really gone out much since he’d announced himself as Iron Man though he supposed that could attract more attention from them.

“Peter Parker,” the kid replied.

“Well then, Peter. Where are your parents?”

A dark cloud crossed Peter’s face before he mumbled, “gone.”

Tony winced, maybe not the best question. “Okay, then who’s looking after you?”

Peter brightened, “my aunt and uncle!” Then he looked worried again. “But I was supposed to catch the subway back to them and I got off at the wrong stop accidentally and I don’t know what to do now because I don’t have any more money and then I saw you and I thought...maybe you could help?” Tony didn’t think the kid took a breath in that last sentence.

Tony frowned, “how old are you, kid?”

Peter grinned, revealing a missing front tooth, “six and a half.” He held up six fingers, curling the seventh finger half up carefully.

Tony smiled despite himself. “Aren’t you a bit young to be catching the subway?” Tony really didn’t know, maybe it was normal, but judging by this situation he probably was too young. He was pretty sure kids had to be a certain age to ride alone and six seemed too young. He didn’t know how Peter had got this far.

Peter nodded, “my Aunt May said my babysitter would be waiting to ride back with me because her and Ben would be running too late to pick me up but Sarah wasn’t waiting at the gates of my school and it was getting late! Everyone else had left so I thought I could catch it by myself because I wanted to go home but...I don’t think I should have done that.”

Tony glanced at his watch. Judging by the time, he’d say the babysitter skipped out on her job which pissed him off slightly. Kid didn’t deserve that. 

“How about you try telling a teacher or someone at your school next time?” He wasn’t sure if that was the best way to go about it but it seemed better than this.

Peter blushed, “that’s a good idea.”

Tony left it be there, Peter wasn’t his kid and he was sure his aunt and uncle would sort it out. It wasn’t all the kid’s fault anyway. The babysitter, Sarah, shouldn’t have left him or should’ve got in contact with Peter’s aunt or uncle if she wasn’t going to make it.

Tony committed himself to helping the kid get home, better than his meeting anyway. “Okay then, Peter. What’s your address?”

Peter rattled it off and Tony typed it into his phone, figuring out exactly where they’d need to go. It wasn’t too far from here, just the next stop on the subway actually. Peter had done a pretty good job by himself. 

He could walk Peter home himself, it was past where his meeting was meant to be but he didn’t really care about that anymore or he could text Happy to bring the car here, probably calming his bodyguard’s worries of where his boss went in the process. He squinted down at Peter who was suddenly looking tired from the events of his day. Probably best to have security too, he didn’t want the kid in any danger.

“Alright then, kid. I have a bodyguard called Happy who’s very close,” probably, unless he’d freaked out and gone searching somewhere in the completely wrong direction trying to find Tony, “and I can text him to bring the car here. Then we can drive you home. It’s not too far. How does that sound?”

Peter frowned, “I’m not supposed to get in cars with strangers.” Well, at least he knew that. “But, I guess since I know who you are, it’s okay.”

Tony smiled at him before pulling up his messages and texting Happy their location with an instruction to come pick him up. He’d explain the kid later. Maybe the kid would even prevent him from getting yelled at until after he was gone, or maybe his good deed would make Happy forget it entirely. Probably not but he could hope.

He put his phone away, “he’ll be here soon. So, Peter, who’s six and a half, you seem awfully smart for your young age.” He did. The kid fumbled on some words but he’d spoken clearly and understood what was going on, plus there was an intelligence lying behind Peter’s words.

Peter lit up again, “Mr. Stark, they did a reading test on me today, and I got a reading age of a teenager! I really want to tell Uncle Ben. He always reads to me before bed, and I love reading along too.”

Tony whistled dramatically like he was super impressed (he was, a little), “that’s pretty impressive, kid.”

Peter blushed, “I don’t...I mean, there’s a lot of words he has to explain to me but I’m learning!”

“I bet you are, Peter.” Tony genuinely had no doubts. He was sure Peter would grow up to do great things.

Tony spotted Happy’s car turning the corner in the distance. Apparently, he’d been pretty close then. He reached for Peter’s hand (which he noticed was ridiculously small now that he was holding it) and pointed at the car. “That’s Happy’s one, you’ll be home in no time.”

Peter smiled up at him happily, “thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“Trust me, kid, this is what I’d rather be doing with my afternoon.” The business meeting was...something he’d already been putting off for a while. He had absolutely no problem getting out of it again. If he wasn’t helping the kid, he’d be doing that, so that statement wasn’t even a lie.

Happy pulled up to the curb and got out, looking flushed, probably because of Tony. He seemed like he was about to start yelling until he caught sight of the kid. Tony led Peter to the car and opened the door for him, ignoring Happy. He let go of his hand as Peter climbed in safely and decided to risk looking over the car at Happy.

His mouth was open slightly, somehow conveying the exact expression of, ‘I thought you couldn’t make my afternoon worse but you just did. What do I even do here?’

Tony smiled at him charmingly. “Sooo, Haps. Happy. Great bodyguard. Excellent worker, really. How about you take us a few blocks over to drop Peter here off at his home?”

Happy conceded, seemingly satisfied that his boss wasn’t trying to kidnap a child. “We’re talking about this later.”

Hah! Later. That meant it wasn’t currently his problem. “Great!” Tony immediately climbed into the car and shut the door. The car was just something basic since Tony was currently trying to avoid media attention. It had a basic three seats in the back though it still had a privacy screen between the back and the front because there was only so much Happy was willing to deal with from Tony.

The kid was fiddling with his seatbelt on the other side of the car and Tony paused. “Wait, do you normally have a car seat or something?”

Tony glanced towards the front as Happy got in. Happy was an excellent driver but still, if something went wrong, he didn’t want Peter to be hurt. Did six-year-olds normally have car seats?

Peter stopped what he was doing and shook his head indignantly. “No!” Before continuing more quietly, “it’s a booster seat. And we don’t really use the car much so I don’t use it often.”

Tony considered this. It was only a few blocks. Maybe they should walk. He wasn’t sure what the law was but he was less concerned with legalities than Peter’s safety right here and now. Peter was looking exhausted though now that he was sitting. Tony sighed. “Okay. Alright. Happy?”

Happy grunted from the front.

“Drive safely.” He reached over to help Peter with the seatbelt and looked at it. It wasn’t cutting into the kid’s neck, although the seatbelts were lower on this car, so it’d hopefully be okay.

“Kid, want to tell Happy your address?” He strapped himself in, not about to be a bad role model in front of impressionable eyes.

Peter shyly informed Happy of it. Apparently, he lost his confidence when he didn’t know the person. Tony supposed that was fair.

The drive went smoothly with Peter asking Tony if he was inventing anything currently and hesitantly bringing up Iron Man like Tony might be mad or something. Tony didn’t mind though and told him a bit about the Iron Man suit, simplifying it a lot but Peter still had a slight grasp on science for his young age. Nowhere near enough to keep up with everything but maybe he had a future there.

He also told Peter about his bots in his lab. Peter loved hearing some of the (child-friendly) stories about them.

It didn’t take long for them to pull up in front of Peter’s apartment though. He told Peter to slide out through his side of the car rather than the side facing the road and Peter followed him obediently. He reached out for his hand again, not about to lose the kid now. The kid reached up and took it, practically dragging Tony towards the apartment building.

Tony quickly shut the car door before allowing himself to be led in by Peter. Then the kid froze. Tony looked down at him and frowned, trying to figure out what was wrong.

“Mr. Stark? Do you think my aunt and uncle will be mad?” Peter sounded genuinely worried.

Tony knelt down in front of him and considered what to say, “I think they’ll be worried about you. And they might tell you off, but they just want to be sure you’re okay. How about I tell them about your babysitter? It’s more her fault than yours.”

Peter nodded. “Okay, Mr. Stark. Let’s go.”

Tony dragged himself back up so he was standing again (god, his knees were not up to kneeling currently). “Lead the way, Peter.”

Peter walked them to the elevator and got up on his tiptoes, letting go of Tony’s hand to push the five button. Tony smiled at the sight. Peter immediately grabbed Tony’s hand again once the elevator started moving. Tony was pretty sure he wouldn’t lose him in an elevator but he didn’t protest.

The elevator stopped, the doors opened on the fifth floor and Peter walked out, moving down three doors before going to open one. The door was locked though so Tony knocked on it for him after Peter tried. Peter’s knock was cute, but a little too quiet.

They waited there patiently until a woman opened the door frantically, letting out a sigh of relief and scooping Peter up when she saw him. “Aunt May!” Peter cried, apparently taken off guard. Tony watched as a man quickly came into view, visibly relaxing when he saw Peter as well. Tony guessed that was Peter’s uncle.

May ushered Peter into the apartment before looking up to see who had delivered him. Tony smiled awkwardly. He wasn’t sure how he was going to be received. May pursed her lips, seemingly recognising him and asked him to explain. Tony watched as Ben picked up Peter in the background and took him off to the side before starting to explain what he’d heard of the story, from the subway station, to what Peter had told him, to this exact spot.

By the end, May had invited him in and thanked him, seemingly content that Tony hadn’t been doing anything bad to her kid. Tony didn’t blame her for checking. She murmured a few things to Ben in the other room and Ben seemed to start talking to Peter seriously. Tony thought was good they listened to the full story before telling him off though. She was, however, incredibly pissed at the babysitter and excused herself to go make that phone call.

From what Tony could hear, the babysitter didn’t pick up. But her parents did, and May seemed perfectly happy to ask them to pass along a strongly worded message to their daughter and tell her she was no longer Peter’s babysitter.

Ben brought Peter back into the lounge where Tony was sitting awkwardly, unsure if he should just excuse himself. Peter ran over to show Tony a drawing he’d done of Iron Man.

Tony grabbed it and looked at it like he was examining a complex piece of art. “Wow, Peter. That’s pretty good.” It was very rough but the red and gold made it obvious. Plus, ‘Iron Man’ was written above the drawing in handwriting that wasn’t even that bad. It was also done incredibly fast considering he’d only revealed his identity a few days ago.

“Thanks!” The kid lit up and turned back to look at his uncle briefly before facing Tony again. “Uncle Ben says you’re invited to dinner if you want to stay. You’ll stay, right?!” Peter looked up at him hopefully.

“Peter…” Ben said warningly. “You’re welcome to go, Mr. Stark. I’m sure your schedule is very busy, but I wanted to extend the invitation to you as a thank you if you have the time.”

Tony thought about the business meeting he was still ignoring. He could turn up now and be reasonably late or… “I’d love to stay. I’ll just text my driver and let him know.”

Tony pulled out his phone and started texting Happy as Peter rambled on in the background about Tony’s bodyguard, and how his name wasn’t the most fitting for his personality.

Tony was kind of surprised that his reputation didn’t get him shoved out of the apartment as soon as possible, but he certainly wasn’t complaining as he sat amongst the Parker’s and was welcomed into a family dinner, something he hadn’t had in a long time.

Little did he know as he walked out the door at the end of the night, that wouldn’t be the last time he saw Peter Parker.

**Author's Note:**

> i d o n ' t intend on continuing this despite the end line. maybe i'll add something little to it one day but i don't currently have any plans. just imagine everything played out the same except tony was like wait. i know this kid
> 
> one time this like 6 year old asked me to walk him home when i was walking home from high school and i was like okay little dude, where do you live? and he told me and we started walking, he was holding my hand and telling me about his day (apparently his older brother was meant to walk him home but didn't and i- that older brother was definitely going to get in major trouble later) and then this car pulled up and his family got a bit pissy at me for helping him like i'm sorry, my bad, next time i'll tell him no and leave him alone next to the MAIN ROAD into town with the CROSSINGS of the road he has to do. i get it. but also i'm not leaving a little kid alone in that situation if they ask for help. sue me. i'd rather not see a death in the paper knowing i could've helped.
> 
> me writing the booster seat part: y i k e s. That part had me like hhh probably should just rewrite this whole section so they walk but i don't know. sometimes we didn't have my booster seat with me as a child in another person's car. it was always fine. r i s k y, sure. but i guess it's not the most uncommon thing ever to go without a few times in a kid's life. tony's doing his best considering the situation.
> 
> also! i don't really know ANYTHING about how the subway works. from what i could find online, you have to be at least 8 to ride alone? and even then sometimes the police get called i guess? so this is probably somewhat unrealistic but i've never used a subway before so maybe kids slip through sometimes and no one says anything. i don't know.


End file.
